Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga review: buckle up for a wild ride

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is the latest George Miller film about the post apocalyptic world of the Mad Max series. Since I’ve seen every other Mad Max offering, it seemed only right to watch this one when it reached the streamer Max.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is the origin story of the character Furiosa. Charlize Theron made this character famous in Mad Max: Fury Road. Here Furiosa is played by Alyla Browne as a young girl and Anya Taylor-Joy as a young adult.

Furiosa lived with her mother in an abundant green area that is hidden from the rest of the world. They want to keep it hidden. Furiosa is picking peaches one day and sees a large group of men on motorcycles in the plains below. When she approaches, they snatch her up and take her with them.

Dementus (Chris Hemsworth) leads this Biker Horde. He’s a bombastic guy with a Messiah complex. He claims Furiosa as his daughter.

Furiosa refuses to tell anyone where she’s from. She promised her mother to protect the location, find her way back someday, and plant a peach seed that Furiosa hides in her hair for years. She tattoos a map of the stars on her forearm. The map will lead her home.

To survive, Furiosa has to learn the ways of Dementus’ gang of men. They have a big transport truck that they use to haul various goods for bartering among the other protected groups in the area. They might carry food or water or bullets to exchange for something else.

Furiosa learns to handle weapons, drive the truck, fix anything that breaks and generally be as fierce as the men around her. She works with the driver Praetorian Jack (Tom Burke) as one of the drivers, but she also helps fight off attackers who want to steal the goods.

As you may know from other Mad Max films, the fight for survival is a war, not a cooperative effort. There’s a huge cast protecting each area. They are all ready to fight to the death to protect their share of the necessities.

I thought the film was much too long, but enjoyed many things about it. It was a story of courage, resilience, and survival. The action scenes were perfection, enhanced by CGI, but they looked convincing.

I admired the cobbled together machines people made out of whatever parts they could find. I thought they were creative and added to the post- apocalyptic ambiance of the setting. Dementus traveled in a chariot pulled by three motorcycles he controlled with reins, as if they were horses.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga was visually stunning. Beautiful cinematography, gorgeous scenes, interesting camera angles on the action and the more quiet moments. Overall, the best part of the film to me was in the pleasure of just looking at it. I have no idea how many times I thought, “Wow, what a gorgeous shot,” but it was a lot.

Anya Taylor-Joy did her finest here. She gave Furiosa depth and heart using just her eyes and facial expressions. She didn’t have a lot of lines, but she didn’t need them. Charlize Theron is a lot to live up to, but Taylor-Joy did it.

I like the Furiosa character. It’s good to have a woman character at the top of the cast. It gives me someone to care about. You don’t have to know any of the Mad Max movies to get a thrill ride from this one. If you watch it, feel free to share your opinion on it. The comments are open.